Enemies: Chapter Two
by P.A.R
Summary: Orion and Katlin meet on her terms this time.


****

A/N: Rant time, folks. If you're not into it, skip to the part that says, 'Chapter.....' and go from there.

For the rest of you, you get a little insight into the world of PAR.

Most of you know I live in Florida. Some of you know I live in Central Florida. And a few of you know I live in a little city called Winter Haven.

On Palm Sunday, as you may have heard, my little town lost a historical treasure. Cypress Gardens, the hub of Winter Haven, closed it's doors. A truly sad day for my little town. You see, I live across the lake from Cypress Gardens. Every day I could see people walking about the gardens, watch the ski shows from my dock, and every Christmas watch a million beautiful dancing lights illuminate the lake. 

It was pure magic. 

Every Easter Sunday the gardens opened their doors and gave a sunrise service. You've never seen such a sight.

There was no sunrise service this year. No crowds. No ski shows. No dancing lights in the darkness.

A part of my life growing up was gone. An important part.

This story could have a happy ending, since the state has come in and is trying to buy Cypress Gardens as a park for the city. While on the other side of the fence stand a pack of hungry wolves known as land developers who want to build million dollar houses on the property. We'll have to wait and see who wins this one.

And as always.....,

Enjoy. 

Chapter Two: Trust - How Many Letters In That Word?

The rest of his 'vacation' took a decided upswing after that night. Now Orion found himself forlornly counting the days until he would have to return to England. Even the time he spent freeze his ass off in the woods waiting for his contact each night for several hours didn't seem so bad anymore. He never really expected the person to show up, if they even existed at all. By the third night he had already fairly well convinced himself this was just Bale's little slice of revenge. But once he was done, and the appointed hour came and went, he now practically ran all the way back to the lodge, knowing that some new and wonderfully enticing experience would be waiting for him. His had left Katlin the key to his room the second night, after she had begged and pleaded for it, promising to do something special for him when he got back from wherever he was going. (Part of the rules were that she couldn't asked where he went every night.)

That night he had returned to a blissfully warm bath drawn up in the room's sunken tub, which was surrounded by candles. The room smelled pleasantly of lavender and Katlin was already lounging in the fragrant bubbles as she coaxed him to join her. He had checked for traps as he carefully made his way through the room leading to the bath, but hadn't detected a single one. But he checked the tub just for good measure. 

Katlin had frowned at his suspicions, but had let it go. 

Orion doubted he'd ever spent that much time in a tub in his life or used it in half the ways they came up with that night.

The second night he had come back from a particularly freezing night (it had snowed while he was waiting) to find a cheerful fire burning in the fireplace and a warm glass of brandy waiting for him. Not to mention an extremely warm and attractive woman handing it to him. The fur rug, he noted, was an especially nice touch. Katlin told him she had conjured it up because the room's regular carpet looked like it would have itched.

The third night had practically driven him right over the edge. He had come back to a completely dark room. Not a sound greeted him. As he reached for the light switch, a blindfold suddenly snapped over his eyes. As he went completely still, waiting to see what his attacker had in mind before forming his own plan of attack, a seductive voice suddenly whispered in his ear that it was going to have him screaming his second name before sunrise.

After that night, Orion had little doubt of Katlin's expertise in the area of subtle torture. If those were the methods she always employed, he had no doubt that the woman could have most men crying halfway through the night and less than thirty minutes later telling her how to get into their Gringotts vaults.

And so another night came and went as he sat in the woods amid the snow drifts, waiting for no one to show up. He checked his watch for about the hundredth time that night. How could only fifteen minutes have been all that had gone by?

Orion shook his head as he buried his hands back in his pockets and sat shivering on the same log he had been coming to for five straight nights before. 

One more night.

That was where his thoughts were tonight. One more night after this one, and he had to leave back to England. He had to leave Katlin and all of her wonderful surprises that always greeted him when he opened the door each of the past three nights.

He sighed quietly to himself as a frown etched itself across his face.

"Ohhhh, now that sounded unhappy." A soft, feminine voice came from behind him.

Orion spun around, his wand drawn. But he lowered it immediately as he saw who the voice belonged to.

Behind him Katlin stood dressed in her usual black Deatheater robes, with a large, white fur coat pulled over them.

Orion looked over her attire.

"Here on business?" He asked.

"It was the only long thing I had to wear." She replied, sitting on the log next to him.

"And the coat?"

"A present."

"From?"

Katlin turned to him for a moment. "Voldemort."

"Pretty expensive gift to give an employee."

"Deatheaters are not employees, Orion." She stated flatly.

"I got that impression the first night I saw you, when you ran into his arms."

Katlin gave him a stunned look. "When you saw.....surely you're not suggesting.....?"

"I'm not suggesting anything." Orion replied, turning back to scan the area. "We don't discuss business. Remember?"

"So I thought." Katlin answered in a less then bemused voice. "But just for your information, Mr. Black, if you can get your mind out of the gutter for a minute, I am not Voldemort's lover."

"That coat was just a gift to a friend?"

"More like to a daughter." Katlin replied curtly. "Which is exactly how he treats me."

"Very nice."

"He can be."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Orion turned back to her.

"So how did you manage to find this lovely, picturesque spot?"

Katlin snorted softly. "Honestly, Orion. Following you is like following a drunken bull raging through a field of corn. It's not that hard."

"I'd be more careful if I thought anyone else was crazy enough to want to be out here freezing."

"Would you rather I went back?"

"I would rather you told me what you're doing here."

Katlin smiled at him. "I came to keep you company."

"Katlin, this is suppose to be a covert meeting. Not a outdoor party."

"Again, would you rather I left?"

Orion sat for a moment, then turned a small smile to her an shook his head. "No. Truthfully, I don't think anyone's coming and I'm out here bored out of my mind."

Katlin got up and straddled his legs as she sat on them facing him. She wrapped her arms about his neck as she smiled down at him. 

"I think I can solve that." She said softly.

Orion slipped his hands under the coat and around her waist. The inside of the coat was as warm as under the covers of the bed they'd been sharing for the past few nights, when they actually made it to a bed. And the warmth slowly began to slip into every part of his body as he imagined the night ahead.

"So, how much longer do you have to wait?" Katlin asked.

"For what?" Orion mumbled as he buried his face under the folds of her coat, seeking out warmer areas.

Katlin giggled as he found one and began doing something wonderful with his lips and tongue through the material of her robe.

"For your contact." She answered.

"'Bout forty-five minutes." He mumbled back.

"Oh, good." She replied, scooting further up in his lap, giving his lips better access to where they wanted to go. "We should be done here by then."

Orion laughed softly, the warm caress of his breath against Katlin's skin sending shivers up her spine.

"Love, I don't know what you think I can do sitting out here in the cold."

"Ohhhhh," She purred back at him, pulling him closer, "I won't be the least bit surprised."

A sudden sound froze both of them in they're places. Abruptly Orion shoved Katlin off his lap and back onto the log.

"Stay there!" He ordered her in a whisper as he drew out his wand and hurried off to where the noise had come from.

But Katlin was already on her feet. "Not on your life." She stated, drawing her own wand and hurrying after him.

A good quarter of a mile away, Katlin caught up to Orion. He was standing in a small clearing, crouched over a shape on the ground. As she got closer she could see that the form was a body, blood staining the snow around where it lay.

"Who is it?" She asked, walking slowly over to him.

Orion got slowly stood up, picking up the large envelope laying next to the body.

"I'm assuming this was my contact." He answered shaking the now empty envelope. "Unfortunately he never made his delivery." 

Katlin was suddenly keenly aware of his eyes on her. She looked up to meet his stare.

"What?" But awareness suddenly dawned on her. "Oh, surely you don't think....?"

"I simply find it rather strange that tonight of all nights you show up out here." He stated with a deep frown. "The perfect distraction. And the next thing I know my contact is dead."

"It took me this long to trace you here. The last time the damn snow covered your tracks before I could follow you all the way. Tonight I at least knew half the way. The rest I had to go back to tracking you."

Orion stood staring at her.

"Orion, I had nothing to do with this." She answered his stare. "I was with you when we heard this, if you'd be kind enough to remember."

"I'm not saying 'you' did it." Orion replied in a low, careful voice. "Only that you were the distraction."

"I was nothing of the sort!"

"Really?"

"On my honor as a Deatheater. I knew nothing of this."

"That means a lot to me."

Katlin narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance. "I swore on that honor in the alleyway. I told you the people coming weren't mine. Was I lying then?" She asked sharply. "Whose people were betraying him, Orion? Who was lying then?"

Orion stood staring back at her, not moving.

Katlin's expression shifted from annoyance to one of questioning disbelief. 

"Orion?" 

"Leave." He said simply.

Katlin watched him for a moment, then turned on her heel and started off. "Fine." She said in a low voice.

Orion watched her until she disappeared into the trees, he then set about arranging the 'accident' for the authorities to find later.

Back in his hotel room, Orion wasted little time getting his things together and getting out. Whoever killed his contact was still out there somewhere. His best bet for safety was to get back to England as fast as possible. 

As soon as he was packed he activated the portkey and returned home.

Orion met that same night with Bale and the senior staff. He had been practicing his story since Katlin had left. By the time he repeated it to Bale and the others, he had it down perfect. There wasn't much to it that he actually had to remember. He had waited for the contact for five nights without the man showing up. On the sixth night he went to the meeting place, heard a noise, went to investigate, found the man dead.

The trick was delivering it to a group of men as well versed in reading body language as he was. But the advantage came in knowing what they were looking for and knowing how to disguise it as something else. A nervous twitch. A touch of a cold coming on. Too little sleep. 

Well, the last one wasn't that much of something he had to fake. Katlin had kept him up rather late the past few nights.

Katlin.

Orion found his thoughts drifting back to the Deatheater.

Deatheater.

He focused on that. She was what she was. There was no changing that.

She had proved that. She had infiltrated his mission, compromised it, and even managed to have a little fun along the way.

Orion muttered something under his breath as he thought of what a fool he had been played for.

"Black?" Bale's voice snapped him back to the present.

Orion looked up suddenly. "I'm sorry, sir." He replied softly, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Not a lot of sleep lately."

"Well, we're done here for tonight." Bale told him. "Go home and get some sleep. We'll need to regroup tomorrow morning and sort this little fiasco of yours out."

Bale's tone told him how deep he was in it at that point. And quite frankly, he was surprised he could still see daylight.

He couldn't even blame Bale, or think of one derogatory thing to call him under his breathe as he left the Department and headed home.

He had gotten himself into this mess. All because some woman had managed to turn him about so badly he hardly knew which end was up. He had really made an idiot of himself this time. Something he swore he would never do again.

The next day at the office Orion found his new resolve already being tested way too early in the morning. 

As he sat at his desk filling out a mountain of reports Bale had dumped on his desk first thing as he walked in the door, a small barn owl flew in the room and headed straight for his desk. It flew over to him and perched itself on his outstretched arm. Orion untied the small brown paper wrapped parcel from the owl's leg.

As soon as it was free of it's burden, the owl took off again and was soon out of the room.

Orion watched the owl leave with a slight frown. They usually hung about for a few minutes looking for a treat. This one acted as though it couldn't wait to leave.

Shrugging, Orion unwrapped the package. 

It was Charly Misser's voice that snapped him back to the present this time.

"Oy! Orion! Come on. Meeting. Five minutes. You forget?"

Orion looked up from the brown packaging in his hand. "What?"

Charly looked over his shoulder.

Inside the brown wrapping lay a small diamond pendent hung off a silver chain.

"Someone sending you jewelry now, Black?" He asked with a small grin.

Orion stared at the pendent for a moment. "No." He said on a small voice, very much unlike his own. "Sending it back."

"Back? What? Didn't she like it?"

Orion shook his head slightly. "No. I guess she didn't."

"Crazy woman." Misser said as he drifted down the hall to the meeting room.

Orion didn't follow him. Instead he stood staring down at the small pendent. The minute he had opened the brown wrapping paper something inside of him froze. He wasn't sure what it was. 

So she had sent it back? What had he expected? To see her again? That they had some relationship?

They had had five nights of great sex. But what else had it been, really? 

She had betrayed him. She had acted her role while her cohorts had finished the job. Distract him. Play him for a fool. They had all probably laughed themselves silly all the way back to their lair at what an idiot he had been. 

He had even bought her a present.

"You're an idiot, Black." He told himself as he wrapped the small pendent back up and dropped it into his desk drawer. "Thinking with every part of your body but your brain."

The meeting turned out to be little more that Orion could tell than Bale's opportunity to let the whole Department know that Orion had failed the mission. And such a simple one at that. Bale couldn't stop mentioning that enough. All he had had to do was pick up a package and bring it back to the Department. And he had messed up. Well, it wasn't the first time, he console himself. And if he didn't get his head together, it wouldn't be the last.

Orion spent the rest of the day sitting behind the pile of paper work on his desk more or less staring off into space. Everything should, at this point, have been cut and dry. But something Katlin had said to him was leading him to his doubts about just how cut and dry things were. She hadn't lied to him in the alleyway. Not once. About anything.

And the time he had spent with her...never once did he sense anything out of place. There had been no traps waiting for him each night. Although there were a hundred places and ways she could have laid them. But all that greeted him each night was her soft smile and welcoming arms. She had genuinely seemed to be enjoying just being in his company. And he was trained to spot people lying as easy as others could tell you what color your shirt was. But nothing she had said or done had felt like a lie. Not even standing over the body in the snow, swearing she had had nothing to do with the man's murder.

Orion opened his desk drawer and drew out the small package. He opened it up again and took out the small pendent, hanging it from his fingers as he looked at it.

"Boy, this one must have been something."

Orion looked up to see Misser standing in his doorway watching him.

"Hmmm?"

"Whoever didn't like her present. She's really got you past distracted, Orion, my boy. So," Misser asked, coming in and sitting in the chair by Orion's desk, "what's the story with her?"

Orion shook his head as he dropped the pendent back in the desk drawer. "Sorry." He stated. "No story to tell, Charly. Just didn't work out."

"You know what'll drive you crazy about working here, Black?" Charly asked.

Orion looked up at him. "Trying to figure out how Bale got to be boss?"

"Naw." Charly stated, waving the suggestion off. "He was sleeping with someone. No, Orion, my boy, what'll drive you nuts is that if you don't keep your wits about you, you forget you're working in an office of bloody mind-readers, or body- readers, in our case."

"Meaning?"

"We all read body language like a book, Orion. Let me give you some advice."

Orion looked up at him.

"If she was that special, what's the harm in giving her another chance?"

Orion watched Charly get up and leave.

"More than you know, Charly." He said softly. "More than you know."

Orion tried to dismiss Charly's suggestion as coming from a man who simply didn't know all the facts. But his mind would quickly slip from that thought back to one's that had him questioning other things.

When he had met Katlin in the alleyway, she had had no know idea he was going on that mission. Even he hadn't known it. It had been a random assignment. 

She had also shown up too quickly in the small ski town. Even the Deatheaters couldn't have put something like that together that quickly. 

In the woods, she had been as surprised by the noise as he was. He had had his arms wrapped about her body. He could feel her muscles tense as she prepared herself for a possible attack, just as his body had reacted to the sound. 

And she had insisted on coming with him rather than staying where she was. That most of all perplexed him. 

And then there was the look on her face when she had found him standing over the body. It had been pure shock. Whatever she had expected to find, a body hadn't been it.

Orion sighed to himself as he sat staring at the wall before him. No matter how he tried to sort things out, there were simply to many variables to work with. Too many unanswered questions.

And only one place to get them.

****

Q&A

As I merrily ponder my way through answers, I came across something I felt needed to be said, just to avoid confusion. Katlin appeared, as you might recall, in The Bonds That Tie. That story, folks, was AU. It has no connection to any of this. This story is revolving mostly around Canon. It follows most of what Rowling laid out. There are some minor exceptions to that, and having had to look at my time line and then my story again, I may have to make some alterations.

In reading this, you can safely assume that nothing in The Bonds That Tie ever happened. Separate story and all that.

Thank you.

Sailor Sol: Thank you, Dear. I'm very pleased you like this one. OC stories are so hard to gage sometimes.

Silverfox: If you were asking why was the price of that piece of jewelry so high, all I can say is go shopping in a small Austria ski town for jewelry. It ain't WalMart, folks.

Actually, Snape isn't in this story if I have my facts right. Working on so many stories simultaneously does tend to scramble one's brain a bit.

UnrepentantReader: Don't ever change, Un. 

Actually, PAR is known to have a somewhat smart mouth from time to time. And my most outstanding characteristic is that I am horribly sarcastic. Most of my friends know me for this and disregard it. To those who are meeting me for the first time, I may actually seem crass. But it's just the way I am. Couple that with a very dry sense of humor and it can tend to confuse people the first go round. But off hand, I would say that yes, a lot of Charly and Orion are based on my personality.

O.K., now, in defense of my female lead, I would like to firmly point out, she is NOT a slut. She just doesn't believe in wasting a lot of time with things. Like getting to know someone first. That sort of stuff. And might I add I don't see anyone criticizing Orion. Such a double standard we women have to live with.

Was the cake recipe any good? Who knows? They probably just whipped up the batter, smeared it all over.......oh, never mind.

As Katlin points out quite clearly in a later chapter, Deatheaters are not YKH's employees, and are therefore not paid, unlike Ministry workers. That's part of what makes them so dangerous.

Oh yes, Katlin has very good taste. Especially in men.

My Dear, Charly has a LOT to say about all this. But first he has to find out about it. That is likely, by the way, my favorite chapter. It is TOO cute. But, yes, there is a very interesting twist to it. And that you actually find out before the chapter is posted.

Kinky? It's PG13, Dear. I have to draw the line somewhere. As I said in the beginning, I leave a lot to the imagination. But suffice to say 'normal' doesn't really play for Orion and Katlin.

Werepup: Ohhhhhh, thank you, Dear! Such a nice review!

Orion is actually a character who came into 'being' in Family Life. He's been in development ever since. Trust me, you don't just wake up one morning and decide to create an OC. Not if you want them to be remotely respectable. Orion was created out of a lot of sleepless nights laying in bed, thinking and planning this character. And believe me, you haven't seen the half of him yet.

Don't berate your abilities, Dear. Your review is very concise and well written. I would bet you would do well writing short stories. A truly rare gift.

And sorry, no more Family Relations for now.

Arania: Would it help if I said I will justify later how fast they ended up in bed together?

Oh yes, Dear. Most definitely NOT gay here.

Eva Phoenix Potter:

Thank you. That's it, just 'thank you'. (And such a cute review it was too.)

Nagini: Dear, I must take objection to your killing off my main character. Was that very nice?

Anyway, who's Kris?

Oh, come on now, Ron is good comic relief.

Sorry, Dear, still not first.

Yes, Dear. It is one of my favorite words.

Sorry, no Draco. I am, however, currently formulating a plan to stea.........BORROW Whisp's Sirius plushi.

Yes, Dear, just a tad hyper. But there's nothing wrong with that.

Well, Dear, I'll consider the buddy thing if you refrain from killing my characters randomly.

lilahp: Awwwwww! Thank you, Dear, for liking the title! And such a nice comment on my plotlines as well! Original? Well, I do try. Thank you.

Oh, dear! Gold star for you! (*) Such good questions! (Both reviews.) Unfortunately, I can't answer many of them, but the good news is they are addressed in the story. Especially how does Charly feel (or how is he treated) when Orion isn't around. Yes, it is very hard for him, I will say that much. He is a muggle trying to keep pace with a bunch of magic yielding wizards. However, Charly is also the partner and personal friend of a wizard no one in their right mind wants to cross. Orion Black. But as I said, there's an upcoming chapter which goes into this in depth, so I don't want to spoil it for you. But I am very glad you like the character. He is very interesting and will get even more so as this story progresses.

Next part. First of all, a lot of people jumped on the 'Katlin is Orion's contact' bandwagon for some reason. No, folks. Sorry. Katlin has her own agenda for being there. And yes, it does come up later in the story.

As for how can they be together, being who they are and knowing what they do? Go read the title of the story again, Dear. That's a large part of what it is about.

Dedicated to the causes? Katlin has (as you'll find out later) dedicated her life to Voldemort's cause. She is very likely his most trusted follower. As for Orion? Well, that's an interesting question. I won't say he's not just as dedicated, but he does view his job differently from Katlin. As mentioned in the opening chapter, to him, it's fun, sort of. But in the end I think you'll find for Orion and Katlin it's not so much a question of loyalties as priorities.

As for falling into bed together so quickly, *Cough, cough, cough. Darned pheromone cloud! Cough, cough, cough.* ummmm......*Cough.*, what was the question again, Dear?

Unfortunately, whenever Orion and Katlin get together at this point *Cough*, they pretty much have their activities (activity?) planned. But on skies? Hmmmm, that could be interesting.

Thank you for liking the 'sexy' parts. PAR is no romance writer and she darned sure can't write sex that well. The compliment is appreciated. Actually, there's a great little story I like to tell people about me and sex scenes. Back way before most of you were born, there was a graphic novel (comic book) that was put out by a friend of mine, Richard Pini and his wife, Wendy, (truly a fantastic team), called Elfquest. This was a wonderful on-going series that had two major characters in it (Male and female) who came from 'opposite sides of the tracks', so you just knew they had to wind up together. Well, readers waited with great anticipation for the all for certain 'sex scene' between these two characters. The scene opened with them meeting in the village, then, with blanket in hand, heading up a rock cliff overlooking the village, sneaking off behind some rocks, and....then we were treated to a beautifully drawn sunrise.

Yup! That was it. As one reader wrote in, after months of waiting and anticipating, 'what did we get? Rocks!'

Well, folks, what can I say? Mostly, you're going to get rocks.

Peaceful times are few and far between in this story indeed.

As for your comments on Family Relations, of course Harry will be getting into trouble. He's a teenager.

What do my characters look like? If Kristen over at Chamberofthekeys.com wasn't so busy now that she's been accepted in Ringling Art School, I would commission her to draw them for me, because I could really nail them for her to the last detail. I generally work from real life. Pictures of people I've seen or someone I know. For Orion, keep in mind that Harry has seen pictures of him before while they were staying at the Black Estate. He, in fact, mistook several pictures of Orion for Sirius. So you can assume safely they bare a striking resemblance to each other. But Orion is about five years older than Sirius, and if you look closely, you will note the difference in that. He's also a bit taller than his younger brother and a bit broader in build. (That was a little something for PAR.....*sigh*.)

Why does everyone immediately assume that Orion and Katlin will end up married?

You'd love to see Sirius fight? What, exactly, Dear?

Well, as that Book V will be out before we get to anything about Sirius and Orion growing up together, and Mrs. Rowling has hinted she will be covering a lot of James and Sirius' past in that, I won't presume to try filling in the blanks in that area for right now. I'll wait to see what she has to say.

What are Katlin's motives? Well, you'll have to wait to see on that one. Does come out later why she just happened to be in the same little ski town as Orion at that particular time.

Thank you for the link, Dear. I will look into the story now that I have a way to get to it.

So sorry you've been through illness, Dear. It's no fun. And PAR would not wish what she has on anyone.

And I appreciate your reading my stories, and as ever, your wonderful reviews. Thank you.

purple water: Oh, Dear, there is a VERY good reason why Mr. Black has no children. Good heavens! You nearly hit a bulls-eye with that one!

Now that I've confused you...., moving right along...., Dear, Orion is an Unspeakable. Among the magic community, he is among the most dedicated to his work. Sleeping with someone to get something does make the list of 'Means I would employee to justify my ends' for our boy, Orion. 

This story is unbelievably complicated. I suspect you will absolutely go nuts with joy for all the continuity errors you are likely to find that I missed. It was just that hard to write and keep everything straight.

Just because Katlin doesn't have a devious plan I don't think fails her as a Deatheater. She is actually a very good Deatheater. She's just having a little trouble right now seeing through that pheromone cloud. Much as is Orion.

'Since she's not talking, I don't see what Orion is getting out of this, other than sex.' BINGO!!!!

Don't tell you all men want is sex? What's Katlin's motivation, Dear? Could it be...ummmm....sex?

Nope. Not just two people looking for a way not to get killed when confronted with the other. More like two people seeing how much sex you can get out of five days in a snow lodge.

Oh, that next part is hard to answer because it's the basis of the whole story more or less. So understand I can't really get into it too deep. But as I pointed out to lilahp, this is not a question of loyalties, it's a question of priorities. As for the rest of this, all I can say for now is Katlin is not your average Deatheater. She is a member of the Elite of Voldemort's followers. They are a slightly different group and their beliefs as well as their actions and goals are a little different from their fellow Deatheaters. Elite's actually think.

I apologize for the chaptering issue and I am working on correcting it. I don't know if I'm the sole member of this fan club, but I find the new submission sequence Fanfiction.net has put up very confusing and nearly impossible to properly navigate. I am working on getting this all under one heading.

Semmel: Dear, just out of curiosity, why the name?

PAR understands computers acting up. Making them stop doing that is part of what I do for a living.

Ah! Another rider on the 'Katlin is the informant Orion is suppose to meet' bandwagon. Sorry, Dear. No. I derailed that train already in my answer to lilahp. This was a purely accidental meeting. Katlin is there for her own reasons, which are brought up later in the story.

I'm still debating the rating. But as I said, with all due respect to Mrs. Rowling, I toned this way down.

I'm glad you liked the Great Guru of Story Ratings. True. All true.

Fantome: Actually, the suggestion to turn this into an original work of fiction has been suggested to me by a friend who heard the synopsis of the story and feels I'm somewhat crazy for posting it for free. But I haven't completely throw the idea away.

What does Katlin want? whatever she can get.

What makes you think either one of them are going to switch sides?

Oh, work isn't all that, Dear. Sure, there's the money, and the benefits, and the money, and the thing to do five days a week, and the money, and the.....oh. O.K., I guess it is all that! But have faith, Dear. It took PAR over nineteen months to land this job.

Actually, no, 'Deatheater' is not a family tradition for Katlin. Her past does come up later in probably what has to be the most informative chapter I've ever written to date.

And as a point, Katlin is not a Deatheater. She is an Elite. There is a difference.

I'm very glad you liked Diamond, Dear. That one was just for fun.

Family Life will, as you know, be continuing, and 'no', the characters will not be getting much of a break.

I'm very glad you liked Arabella and Analisa. Especially since they will both be back int he sequels.

The birthday party was added for pure fun.

Thank you, Dear, for saying PAR is not old, even if she is.

Glad you liked the twist on truth serums, although I had to fight a bit on that one with a few reviewers.

I can almost never write a story that Snape isn't in. He's such a great character to write about.

Trennerson was just your typical bad guy.

Harry's language acquisition skills are a running joke and will likely play out in other stories as well.

skahducky: Oh dear. You thought this was disgusting? And I thought I tamed it down so well. Just fair warning then, this story does have its moments.

Nicky: Ohhhhhhhhh! Nice long review. Makes PAR very happy!

PAR likes Austria. Nice mountains.

Gotta be a female. Go read purple water's review. I can not find two review so totally 360 degrees of each other.

And in Orion's defense, Katlin hesitated too. I guess neither one of them could see through that pheromone cloud. *Cough, cough, cough.*

Actually, as for hesitation costing Orion anything, I think you'll find he has the most to pay when he doesn't stop and think first before he acts.

As for Family Relations, yup, good reason.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I like that idea! Arabella's magic being off because she's pregnant. I like that sooooooooooooo much. But, no. She's just overly distracted by something going on off stage that readers aren't aware of yet. But man, I wish I had thought of that! Drat!

How can Orion have five children and be childless in Family Relations? Easy. The author messed up big time. So I have to do some revising. Not the first time. Won't be the last. But actually, the story of how our boy Orion came to have five children is in another story titled appropriately enough In the Family Way, which comes up much later. In Enemies, he has no children as yet. If I eluded to or said outright that how Orion came to have five children is in Family Ties, the third part of the Family story arc, I apologize. Family Ties deals with why Sirius is not in Family Relations much more than you have seen him.

Now allow me to REALLY confuse you good. Does Orion have five children in Family Relations? Yes.

Will you see them? No.

Is there a reason for that? Yes. Author oversight like you have rarely seen before and that's all I'm saying. (But I will post it as a general disclaimer next chapter.)

Proper Friends, my Lupin/Snape (Non-slash) story, is without doubt one of my best put together stories so far. I look forward to posting it.

Oh yes, please! Let us see a little emotion out of this kid! This kid never cries, gets upset, frets, or gets anything past slightly excited. Yes, I would love to see Harry and Sirius locked in a room together for three days and forced to really get to know each other. So far that relationship is about as superficial as it can get. So there is really nowhere for it to go but up. And there is bound to have to be some romance. After all, the kid is a teenager. He's apt to have noticed by now that girls are not simply the ones who wear the different cloths. They're soft, they smell good, and they're pretty.

Thank you for the well wishes, Dear. My doctor seems a lot less concerned now than when we started the tests.

As to your other review, which was posted after I did Q&A last time, it is something of a play on names that Orin and Orion have similar names. Personally, I just thought it was cute to make their names so similar when all they're ever doing is butting heads.

Is Katlin Orion's wife? Now how can I answer that!? That's the point of the whole story! 

nessie: Yes, Dear. He's a few years away from fatherhood right now.

Your computer problem sounds quite serious. I hope it is better now.

The new job is going very well. Everyone seems to like PAR. And so far whatever I have does not appear to be life threatening.

Zimmy Russell: Hey, Zim.

Now you got me thinking about the donkey.

If you were in Orion's place, would YOU go skiing?

Of course it's fishy. Deatheaters and Aurors? How can it be anything but?

So glad you like Orion. He is indeed a very cool character.

Night, Zim.

FairyTale: Oh look! Another person making PAR happy. Nice long review.

Indeed, this has much more insight than Partners. But keep in mind that Partners was more or less just for 'it's too cold to go out and play so I think I'll sit inside and write a story' fun.

And again, don't hate Orion because of his actions in Family Relations. He's got a good reason. (Man, am I gettin' tired of saying that.)

Mean am I not. Previews readers give as act of kindness is. Interest it keeps. Little green troll I see.

Katlin was in The Bonds That Tie. (Kick me if I'm wrong. I wrote it, after all.)

O.K., to straight things out, yes, Katlin is a character I wanted to see as a regular. Hence this story.

While this is the same Katlin character we all knew and hated in The Bonds That Tie, as far as this story is concerned, that story never happened. Hence, Katlin has never met Sirius.

Sirius is not at this point in Azkaban. So no escape yet. Comes later.

So, same character? Yes. Completely different, non-connected stories? Yes. Making any money off of this? No. (That was for the lawyers, and ribbing a friend of mine who, having gotten the synopsis for this story, highly suggested I alter it, originate it, and sell it. Still a thought, by the way.)

Ah! I knew I remembered someone wanting a time line. That was you. Enemies is a little hard to place time-wise. I would place it about a year or so before Voldemort's fall. But things could change because having said that, I have to look over some things that may not fit anymore.

MOSTLY, the children issue. Oh man, now this IS going to get complicated. But, to make you happy, FairyTale, I will say that your one question caused a major shift in my story line. Congratulations. Not many people accomplish that in their lifetime. If I hadn't already given out the gold star, you would most definitely have gotten it.

Currently, here is where it stands after I sat and stared at my computer screen for a good long time while trying to sort this all out. Orion has five children in Family Relations. But you will not see them as yet. They are staying with Mum, since Dad is.......well, sort of on a mission. I don't think it gives too much away by saying that. (Other than this very confused answer, go see Nick's very confused answer.)

Is Katlin Orion's wife? Now if I answer that a whole lot of people are going to go 'Aww, ****.' and go read something else. And you might be surprised by the answer to that question.

So glad you are now happy, Dear.

Sweets: Oh dear. We crossed wires somewhere. No, Dear. Enemies is no continuation of Family Life. Now, those little previews at the end of the chapters? Yes, but they are just previews. And there aren't going to be anymore until the actual story posts. Sorry. But yes, Family Relations IS the continuation of Family Life. As in 'sequel'.

What Harry is is very confused. He's not thinking about screaming or anything else. Just trying to figure out what is going on. He just watched his Godfather nearly murder his own brother on the spot, and was then dragged off by the man without either Godparent so much as raising a finger to stop him. Plus, it was hardly even a remote similarity to how he pictured the day was going to end. Even for a fifteen year old, that's a lot to handle.

Actually I like to think of doctors as a man standing around with a Magic 8 Ball in his white coat pocket and an eight year degree in guess work in his other. And sitting in front of him on a stool is a little white lab rat, currently known as yours truly.

I missed you TWICE? Oh, PAR is so sorry, Dear. Bad PAR. Bad, bad, bad.

How did I find a job? A year of looking, Dear. I went to the state website at myflorida.com a LOT. That's how PAR came to work for the state. You can also try your local county commissioners website and city government. Government agencies seem always to be hiring for something.

Orion is a very hard character to decide if you love or hate at this point. Due to the previews and this story running together, you are getting two very different looks at the character. But mostly, Sirius summed him up best. He's a less tense version of Snape. He's almost never not looking at the world as an Auror.

TreeHugger: Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! I LIKE the name. PAR is a tree hugger from way back!

Oh dear! Another 'died waiting for you to update'. Please stop doing this to me, people. I'm getting a complex. But I did update. And I will make amends with two chapters this week. Are we better now?

****

FAMILY LIFE

Penelope: You're only on Chapter seven, Dear. There's about 42 'Mores' to go.

stayblue: Yes, Family Life is continued. It's sequel, Family Relations, has been previewed at the end of several of my other story chapters and the whole story will be out....well, one day. I have a few that have to come out first.

So glad you liked the story.

AABattery: Yes, there was a great deal of discussion throughout the reviews about Harry's emotional age.

What's 'rn', Dear?

Elbereth94: Yes, Dear. Family Life is being sequeled in Family Relations, previews of which are available at the end of various chapters and other stories of mine. Three previews, to be exact.

Ohhhhhhhh! I made a realistic Sirus!? Thank you!

Analisa and Snape make a good pair. They are both spies, both potions masters. But Analisa has a small secret Snape hasn't come across yet that will surely test their relationship. Especially from his end.

Well, Harry doesn't quite have his family yet, as seen in the previews to Family Relations.

So glad you liked Arabella. She is my second favorite female OC.

You might have to hurt me? Can I count that as a flame? You would be my third.

Thank you, Dear. A very nice review.

anywho: Dear, my stories, excluding the ones under 'humor', almost always have some degree of anguish in them. And if you do not like tear-jerkers, please avoid The Bonds That Tie at all costs. It came with a clearly spelled out tissue warning.

Tori Cody: Yes, Family Life is sequeled in Family Relations. The previews to which may be seen at the end of various chapter and story endings among my other postings. I do hope to have this story out this year.

****

The Bonds That Tie

Angel of Faith: Listen, no offense, Dear, but you 'laughed' all the way through this story? This had to be my most depressing story to date! I worked extra hard on uping Klennex's stock. This story came with a TISSUE warning, for heaven's sake! Unless you were commenting just on chapter 16, which was just too cute for words.

Reviews are as of 05102003. If I missed you, I apologize. It is not intentional. 


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